Social Issues: Utility Fog
The Utility Fog stream provides inspiration and a methodology for secondary school teachers to introduce a social component to the study of nanotechnology. The module is designed as a facilitated workshop and can be introduced to a range of science and humanities subjects.
Utility Fog is a concept that was developed by Dr Josh Storrs Hall (Storrs Hall, 2001). It relies on molecular manufacturing to create tiny robots that might be manipulated to create various 3D objects as required.
Module Guide
Module Guide Word (217kb)
Module Presentation Powerpoint (4.6mb)
Activity 1: Safe Space
The first activity involves creating a safe environment for discussion to take place as students need to feel able to reflect and engage with social and ethical concerns without fear of judgement. Creating a safe space is enabled by setting clear rules for engagement and clarifying the goals. The teacher should also take a facilitative role and model the desired behaviour.
The activity aims to get students thinking about what life could be like in the year 2030 by asking a number of simple questions to get their imaginations going.
Activity 1 Word (53kb)
Activity 2: Awareness
The second activity provides more information about the concept of Utility Fog and can be used by the teacher as a resource or handed out to students as an information sheet.
Activity 2 Word (66kb)
Activity 3: Investigation
The final activity deals with investigation and involves examining the broader impacts of issues, seeking and hearing other views, clarifying thinking and perhaps gathering more facts. Students should not be trying to solve the problem, rather opening it up to further exploration and validation. They should focus on refining their thinking and finding resources to inform their hypotheses.
Activity 3 Word (52kb)